Fight for Survival
by millertime73scd
Summary: Ok, me and my sweetheart are helping the long distance pains by writing our own story, which just so happens to be about love, longing, and zombies. We liked the idea, and I just thought I might post it. We edit each other, and it's fun. Enjoy.
1. Section 1, Vincent Miller

Fight to Survive, Vincent, Part 1

Vincent Miller was spending a very cold, cloudy day in his stuffy, cluttered dorm room, reluctantly making progress on his philosophy reading, finding ample distractions from work on his computer. He was vaguely listening to a movie, checking his facebook and his email, and, overall, not making much headway.

He looked at his email, and there was a new all-student email, titled "BITE OUT OF CRIME!!!" Intrigued by the title, he opened the email. Enclosed was a link to a video which Vincent opened. The screen flashed as a news reporter talking about a robbery of a store spoke into the camera. She was standing still, when suddenly a man tackled and bit her in the arm.

"Oh, my God!" exclaimed Vincent, as he jumped back at the sudden attack. Even as he reacted, the crew and police at the scene pulled people off of the poor woman. "Jesus, what's wrong with people these days?"

He closed the window down and returned to his email screen. A student info email read "Important Message for All Students." Vincent opened the email, and began to read it.

_Dear Student Body,_

_There have been reports on campus of students being attacked by person/persons unknown. We do not know who is responsible, but a few students have been taken from the Health Center to Columbus Hospital for serious injuries. They are not in critical condition, but their injuries were too severe to be treated here. We advise all students to be exercise caution when walking around campus; go in groups, try not to be out late, and spend as little time outside as is necessary. Please report any suspicious behavior that you see to Safety and Security. Stay safe._

_Sincerely,_

_Diane Theaton_

_Campus Affairs_

"What the hell is going on?" Vincent asked to no one in particular. He shook his head and tried to get back to his work. He found he couldn't get the image of that man attacking that reporter out of his head. He got up from his chair, deciding that Aristotle simply wasn't captivating enough to continue reading.

Throwing on his heavy black coat, his gloves and hat, Vincent steeled himself for the strong wind that was sure to be biting at him as soon as he went outside. Finding his way onto the path, he decided to go to the Church for a while to sing, think, and possibly read up on the Opium War in China for his history class.

The beauty of his college struck him as it always did as he trekked his way over hard, slick, heavily trodden-on snow. The snow darting all around him made it hard to keep his eyes open, but it didn't stop him from trying, as he took in the quaint little village of Gambier. The small post office across the road, Middle Path, the long, straight, gravel-strewn walkway running from the far North of the campus to the very South, the warm, inviting bookstore with the many novels and gifts in its windows, and Middle Grounds, the popular café frequented by so many of the students and faculty. Before starting this, the second semester of his freshman year, Vincent knew Kenyon College was where he was meant to be.

As he walked along the sidewalk, Vincent heard someone call his name.

"Matt, how are you?" Vincent asked, recognizing his friend and classmate.

"I'm great. Hey, did you see that allstu about the reporter getting bit?" Matt asked, bewildered.

"Yeah, I did see that, freaked me out. Where was that?"

"Columbus, I think. It was on the front page of the Dispatch."

"No kidding? I should try to find a copy…"

"Yeah, hey, listen," Matt cut him off, "I have to go, but you wanna do something tonight? There's a party going on in one of the dorms, and I'd like to go."

"Sure thing," Vincent replied, pushing the growing mountain of his homework to the back of his mind, "I'll meet you… outside the church? Tonight at…"

"The thing's at 9:00, so I'll meet you at quarter 'til?"

"Sounds like a plan," finished Vincent, "I'll see you later."

Vincent arrived at the church and walked in, welcoming the shelter from the now howling wind, which had picked up considerably during his conversation. Taking off his coat, gloves and hat, he pushed up his sleeves and pulled out the bench at the piano, and began to play a few small songs he knew, singing to the tall, empty building, with its many stained glass windows, painted, arching walls, and old, creaking structures. After several minutes of playing, he decided to try to read some of his history.

Sitting down on the red-carpeted steps to the altar, he leaned back and opened his book. While he was reading, he felt himself drifting off to sleep. Vincent tried his best to stay awake, but the harder he tried, the more his eyes closed, and, finally, he gave up and let himself drift off.


	2. Section 2, Vanessa Romero

Fight For Survival: Vanessa, Section 2

Vanessa Romero scrambled in her room for something to wear. She had just woken up from a night of dreamless sleep to find she had slept right through the alarm. _Damn it,_ she thought as she pulled on a pair of khaki pants and a blue sweater, _I'm late for my interview!_ She hurriedly through her cell phone and wallet into her purse and raced downstairs. Her dad was in the living room watching something on T.V. when she ran past to the kitchen.  
"Shit. Dad!" she called in frustration and panic. "Where is my coat?"  
"Oh, I hung it up in the closet. You know you really shouldn't leave things just lying around like –"  
"Never mind that, Dad. I'm already late!"  
With that she grabbed her coat and started for the door.  
"Vanessa, hold up." Her dad – again.  
"I really do have to go," she shouted back.  
"I don't think you want to. Come here; you should see this."  
Vanessa took a deep breath to calm herself and walked into the living room. Her dad was pointing at the television. She turned around to see a "Breaking News" story. The camera was angled at a coffee shop – the local Starbucks – where an ambulance was parked with paramedics loading several people into the back. Then Vanessa saw the address. That was the store she was supposed to interview with this morning, the interview she was already late for.  
"What happened?" she asked her dad, since the reporter was already finished speaking and the news program had already moved on to another story.  
"Some crazy man walked into the shop and bit one employee and three customers. The police arrived in enough time to see him run off. They tried to catch him, but no luck. Then while they were taking the victims to the ambulance, several other people showed up from nearby and attacked the medics."  
"Damn. That's freaky. Did they find any reason why yet?"  
"No, it was apparently unprovoked and out of the blue."  
"Huh." Vanessa stared past the television screen and thought about what could possibly be into people these days. Did they all escape from a rubber room? She went back to the kitchen and decided to skip the interview. She could always find another job. Pulling out a bowl and spoon, she poured herself some cereal and sat down to enjoy her breakfast. That story was so strange, though. Those injuries must have been pretty bad. But if that man only _bit_ those people, how much damage could that do? _Not much,_ Vanessa thought, _unless he had the skills of a five-year-old._  
She flipped open her laptop and typed in her password to unlock the screen – a necessary precaution against younger brothers. She decided she'd better check her email. There were several new messages, none of which were terribly important – just a few notices from colleges she didn't care about and two forwards from friends. It was then, while she was reading the other emails, a new forward appeared in her inbox. She glanced at the subject and went back to her cereal before doing a double take. The email was titled "Is The Full Moon Early This Year?" Intrigued, she clicked on it and scrolled down through the endless list of previous recipients until she came upon an article from outside a store in Columbus, a young man and several others viciously attacked a reporter from a local news station. The man lunged at reporter Jane Daniels and bit her on the arm. It took five police officers and two cameramen to pull her assailants off of her. She has been taken to the hospital, but it not in critical condition. "Could the full moon have come early to Columbus?" many have asked in the hopes of finding an explanation for the strange events of the evening.  
There have also been recent reports of other such attacks throughout the city and on nearby college campuses. For now, authorities are advising all local residents to lock their doors at night and to keep an eye out for danger when they travel...

Vanessa stopped reading. That was all the confirmation she needed that something weird was happening in Ohio. She finished her breakfast and went back up to her room. There would be time to ponder this later. Right now she just wanted to relax, maybe sleep a little longer. She laid down on top of the warm blankets draped over her bed and picked up the book she had to read for English – Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. But she had only read three chapters when she drifted off to sleep.  
It was six o'clock in the evening when she finally woke, a little confused as to why it was so much darker outside. The sun had been shining when she went to sleep. Now the horizon outside her bedroom window was aglow with the fire of sunset. She got up and ran her fingers through her hair to make herself look a little more presentable. Taking her book with her, she went downstairs and found her dad cooking dinner.  
"Where is Mom?" Vanessa asked of Michael, her younger brother. He was currently a freshman at Summit. Vanessa was a senior.  
"She ran to the store. We're out of hamburger buns."  
"Is that what we're having?"  
"Yep," Michael replied, handing his sister a stack of plates. "You can set the table since I helped cook dinner."  
"And what did you do?"  
"I handed him stuff and stirred the noodles." Michael stuck his tongue out and ran back to the stove.  
Vanessa took the plates and rolled her eyes as she smiled. Little brothers. This one was always looking for an excuse to get out of chores. Vanessa set the table and soon they were all sitting down to dinner. Her parents discussed what had happened at Starbucks earlier and Vanessa decided to bring up the Columbus incident. That made them worried, but soon the conversation moved on to happier topics and they soon forgot all about the attacks.


	3. Section 3, Vincent Miller

Fight to Survive, Vincent, Part 3

Vincent awoke in a shroud of darkness and quiet. He remembered he was in church, but why was it so dark? Then he remembered his conversation with Matt.

"Oh, shit," he uttered, wincing a bit upon remembering his surroundings. Vincent looked at his watch: 10:30, PM. "Why didn't that jackass check inside the church?" he growled as he hurriedly threw on his coat, gloves, and hat. He ran down Middle Path, looking for Matt, listening for any signs of a party in the residences.

"Damn it all," he spat, cursing Matt's characteristic lack of logic. He found no sign of any sort of gathering; strange for a Friday night like this, he thought. Giving up, he walked the long way back North, to his room, morose at the lost chance to hang out. He tried to bring his mind to happier things, to lighten his mood; music, the singing group he was in, his somewhat warm room and bed, and…

"Vanessa…" he sighed. His heart sank further than it had before. He had held feelings for Vanessa Romero for so long, but he had never said anything to her, and he had lost his chance; now he was in college, three hours away, and the next year, she was going to be going away to, to God knows which college, maybe hundreds of miles away. He could not drive her face from his mind, and he bowed his head to the wind and marched on.

He was about to cross the last street on the way to his dorm when he heard from behind him a noise. He turned around and saw a person standing behind him, 20 yards away at least. They were walking slowly, and seemed to be limping.

"Hey, you," Vincent called out to the person, "are you alright? You look like you're hurt…"

The figure stopped moving and looked up, standing stark still. Vincent couldn't quite make out the face through the snow, but he was almost sure it was a man, and a strange one at that. He was acting unusual, almost disturbingly so. Then suddenly, the person let out an unearthly, tortured groan, and, limp seemingly forgotten, broke into a full sprint in Vincent's direction.

"What the…?" Vincent started, but couldn't finish out of surprise by the sudden change in behavior. He stepped to a side, making way for the man—he was sure it was a man, from the noise he had made—who was now barreling down the sidewalk at a break-neck speed. The more he stepped aside, however, the more the man's direction turned, and he kept coming right at Vincent.

Then, the stranger passed under a street lamp, and Vincent recoiled in horror; the man's face was a grotesque mask of dark, foul looking skin, contorted with intense, almost bestial rage. Vincent stepped back, and he slipped on a patch of ice, falling backwards just as the man was feet from him. The stranger tried to stop, but slid as well, and tripped over Vincent's form, flying several yards away, into a tree.

Vincent shoved himself to his feet and tried to see where the man had gone, and saw that he was already getting up, and beginning to bear down on him again. Ready this time for the man, he jumped to the side, and the man slid past Vincent again. Having seen enough, Vincent made a break for the nearest building

"Get the fuck away from me!" Vincent yelled, dashing for the door. He could hear the man's unsettling utterances through his pounding feet, his racing heart, and his intense breathing. He reached out for the door, opened it, and yanked it as hard as he could behind him. It slammed behind him, and then it slammed again as the man rammed into it full force. With a sickening sound, he flew into the bar between the two doors; Vincent was certain he heard the frightening crack of human bones breaking on the metal. The man stopped, and the doors held. Vincent cursed the man again and bolted up the stairs, not stopping until he reached the top floor and crashed through the door, almost taking out a girl exiting her room.

"What the hell is your problem?" she screamed, and marched away indignantly. Vincent fell against the wall and let himself slump to the floor, exhausted, heart pounding. He could still hear the insane man beating his probably broken arms against the door. And then, just as suddenly as he had charged, the pounding stopped.

Vincent held his breath, not daring to think that he had gone away. He must have opened the door, he thought.

"Shit," he swore again as he jumped to his feet and walked towards the door to the stairs. Reaching out his hand, he opened the door and looked down into the stairwell; no one there. Going down the stairs, he saw no one, and he saw no one as he ran back to his room, where he shut the door behind him and quickly locked it.

Vincent sat down again at his desk, and he signed into his computer, trying to return as best he could to a normal routine. Signing into AIM, he got an instant message from Vanessa.

HPLovercraft (10:47:01 PM): _hey there_

HPLovercraft (10:47:07 PM): _how have you been?_

Lizard64summit (10:47:11 PM): hey

Lizard64summit (10:47:14 PM): i've been better

HPLovercraft (10:47:26 PM): _aww, is something wrong?_

Lizard64summit (10:47:35 PM): i just got attacked

HPLovercraft (10:47:47 PM): _holy shit, no way!_

HPLovercraft (10:47:50 PM): _when?_

Lizard64summit (10:17:56 PM): just now

HPLovercraft (10:47:58 PM): _where?_

Lizard64summit (10:48:16 PM): i was coming home, and this guy just fucking charged me

HPLovercraft (10:48:17 PM): _how?_

HPLovercraft (10:48:20 PM): _damn_

HPLovercraft (10:48:26 PM): _who was it?_

HPLovercraft (10:48:29 PM): _do you know?_

Lizard64summit (10:48:30 PM): i have no idea

Lizard64summit (10:48:59 PM): he's some strange looking fucker with a limp, except when he comes at you like a fucking stampede

Lizard64summit (10:49:05 PM): he didn't look right

Lizard64summit (10:49:13 PM): he sounded like some sort of monster

HPLovercraft (10:49:29 PM): _you're alright, aren't you?_

Lizard64summit (10:49:41 PM): yeah, he didn't get me, but it was fucking close

HPLovercraft (10:49:56 PM): _wow. things have been way too weird today_

Lizard64summit (10:50:07 PM): he chased me into this building, but i slammed the door

Lizard64summit (10:50:16 PM): he ran head first into it, i heard bones break

Lizard64summit (10:50:27 PM): but he kept banging on the damn door

Lizard64summit (10:50:37 PM): for ten minutes almost, and then he just fucking left

Lizard64summit (10:50:42 PM): didn't even open the door

HPLovercraft (10:50:50 PM): _god, what has gotten into people?_

Lizard64summit (10:51:26 PM): i know, some reporter in columbus got attacked, and there have been crazy attacks going on here too. some students got put in the hospital

HPLovercraft (10:52:31 PM): _yeah, i read an article on it. some people got attacked at Starbucks today, too. i was on my way to interview for a job when i saw it on the news._

Lizard64summit (10:52:40 PM): what?

HPLovercraft (10:52:51 PM): _yeah_

HPLovercraft (10:52:54 PM): _it's freaky_

Lizard64summit (6:52:57 PM): no kidding

HPLovercraft (10:53:06 PM): _people have just gone nuts or something_

Lizard64summit (6:53:13 PM): that's for damn sure

HPLovercraft (10:53:41 PM): _oh, i have to go. there's someone at the door._

Lizard64summit (6:53:50 PM): alright. i'll talk to you later

Lizard64summit (6:53:54 PM): and, vanessa?

HPLovercraft (10:53:57 PM): _yes?_

Lizard64summit (10:54:06 PM): please be careful

HPLovercraft (10:54:20 PM): _i will be. you take care of yourself, too, okay?_

Lizard64summit (10:54:24 PM): sure thing

HPLovercraft (10:54:35 PM): _alright, good night. i'll talk to you later_

Lizard64summit (10:54:38 PM): good night

Vincent tried to get his mind to focus on something other than his attack, but homework and distractions weren't helping him. He decided he had better just go to bed, and he got up from his desk and lay down under his covers, thinking of his assailant, and how insane he had looked when he had run under the light. There he had never seen anyone who looked like that in his life, and it scared him. He turned over, trying to clear his thoughts. His shifted itself to thoughts of Vanessa, the once light day dreams now darkened with concern for her safety; if attacks like this were happening everywhere, Vanessa was at risk, too. Vincent couldn't stand the thought of losing her, and he tried his best to drift again into the embrace of sleep.


End file.
